Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Lack of tsunami sirens, traffic jams on the road and lack of an overall evacuation plan are just some of the problems that surfaced when American Samoa was placed under a tsunami warning last week, according to a Senate Resolution introduced during last Saturday’s session and will be the subject of a committee hearing soon.

The Mar. 4th tsunami warning issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii was prompted by an 8.1 earthquake in the Kermadec Island region, near New Zealand.

The warning clogged up traffic in the town area with people heading westbound instead of heading to higher grounds. While traffic jams in the town area were later cleared, thanks to the help of police and fire trucks announcing the tsunami warning,  it remained a serious problem heading west, along the coastal road.

According to the resolution, sponsored by Sen. Tuiagamoa Tavai, the tsunami warning issued around 8:40a.m. with the first wave expected around 10:19a.m. gave local residents a little over an hour to evacuate their offices, schools, and homes to gather their families and seek high grounds.

However, the “evacuation wreaked havoc” with traffic causing road blocks that lasted past the anticipated time of the first wave, according to the resolution, noting that phone lines were busy, and it was nearly impossible to make phone calls.

Furthermore, traffic jams and lack of communication increased fear and anxiety for residents as they rushed to their families and attempted to seek safety.

According to the resolution, senators were alarmed that if the tsunami had reached the island, with the roads being congested and traffic at standstill, the casualty and injury rate would have been extremely high.

While tsunami drills and evacuation plans were implemented in the past, the resolution claims that the Mar. 4th “tsunami scare... indicated there was no evacuation plan being implemented.

Additionally, tsunami sirens that were tested monthly were nowhere to be heard and the public had no way of getting any information from the government, with the only mode of communication for everyone was on local radio stations, 93-KHJ and KSBS, as well as social media.

The resolution states that it’s the duty and responsibility of the Department of Public Safety Department and local Homeland Security Department to ensure correct information regarding any emergency situation is communicated to the public in an effort to keep people safe.

The solution notes that the Senate will schedule a hearing to discuss the issues which surfaced during the tsunami warning — from the lack of tsunami sirens, the traffic jams on the road, unreliable phone lines, the lack of an overall evacuation plan — and any other issue senators wish to discuss relating to the latest incident.

Witnesses to be called for the hearing, which will be scheduled soon, are Homeland Security director Samana Semo Ve’ave’a, Police Commissioner Lefiti Falelauli’i Pese and American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority chief executive officer Fala Sualevai.

Tuiagamoa raised some of the same issues during last Friday’s Senate session, resulting in the introduction of the resolution. Tuiagamoa voiced his concerns with the traffic jam heading west-bound from the town area and that he was stuck in traffic for two hours.

Sen. Fai’ivae Iuli Godinet echoed the same concerns, saying that there was “no evacuation plan” with motorists — including himself — stuck in traffic.

However, Sen. Togiola T.A. Tulafono commended police and firefighters for their work that day telling motorist to move to higher grounds, which the former governor says, is what people are to do when there is a tsunami warning instead of being on the road heading home.

The message to head to higher grounds, when there is a tsunami warning, has also been part of local authorities’ public awareness programs in the past years, since the devastating tsunami of 2009 that claimed the lives of 34 local residents.

Samoa News notes that Samana during his confirmation hearings in both the Senate and House in January this year, informed lawmakers that the outdoor warning system has been out of commission since late last year, as technicians from a contractor in the US mainland have been unable to travel to Pago Pago to conduct a maintenance check and upgrade due to suspension of flights between the US and American Samoa under the local COVID-19 emergency declaration.

He also told lawmakers of their plan to get the information out in time of a disaster working with village mayors and others.